Beyond the Blue Horizon
by Lovely1
Summary: WIP, PRDT- rating may change ? A child disappears and the stakes are high esp. for Tommy . It is up to the Rangers to discover why before it is too late. **On temporary hiatus**
1. Intro

Beyond The Blue Horizon

A Power Ranger Dino Thunder Fic

Disclaimer- I do not own the Power Rangers, nor am I making a dime off of this story- unless you count insomnia as compensation! 

R/R- Flames will be used to BBQ. 

Keep eyes peeled for some of your favorite MMPR characters- you never know where one might show.

~~~~~~

Cassidy and Devin watched as their substitute teacher left the classroom in a huff. Something about Dr. Oliver rescuing Connor from detention had angered her and she stalked out of class as soon as the bell rang. 

In her haste to leave, she neglected to completely zip her backpack, allowing a small journal to fall out. Devin stooped to pick it up.

"Dr. K…." he called out.

"No, Devin- shhh," Cassidy hissed, "Give me that!"

She motioned him to a desk and sitting began to read the precise, yet ornate, handwriting: 

I knew the day came when Celeste might become endangered by her heritage. My blood runs cold when I think of the global implications of her lineage… I wish her father were around to protect her. Tommy has taken over the "father" role well, but the fact is, Tommy is NOT her father. I learned that the government is releasing information on the Power Ranger investigation, further making my precious little girl a target to the evil empires still lurking in the galaxy. As the only living member of the investigative team, the danger grows exponentially for those close to me. There are days I wish I had never listened to the enigma that lead me to California. If I stayed at UT, I never would have endured the heartache… True, I wouldn't have my daughter and I wouldn't have grown so close to Tommy, but I wouldn't know any better…

"Whoa!" Devin whispered.

"Dr. K was in on the Power Ranger Investigation? She might know who some of the Rangers are! I have to scoop this!" Cassidy resolved. Tucking the book in her bag, she lead Devin out of the classroom.

They didn't have to go far before they ran into the substitute teacher, "affectionately" known as the Reefside High Menace. Innocently, the duo passed the snide conversation taking place in the hall.

"…Don't ever do that in front of a class again! He was late and he should have served detention." she snapped at Tommy.

"I told you, Kara, I needed him right after school." he explained.

"Then how come you are not with him?" An expectant looked crossed her furrowed brow.

"He is working on a project for me… he can start without me." There was a finality of his tone that stopped any further inquiries into the matter.

"Fine," she sighed. "Hey, listen, the university has a new site up the coast… I got clearance from Dr. Runyon to go up there this weekend.. You want to check it out with me? Its been a long time since we went to a site together. Might be kinda fun."

"Sure, but what about Celeste?"

"I took her down to Angel Grove for the weekend. Dad is keeping her."

"Sure, why not about noon, or something…" Tommy suggested as they walked down the hall together.

"So, something is going on with Dr. K and Dr. Oliver… and Dr. K has something major to do with the Power Rangers…" Cassidy theorized.

"And her daughter's dad is a foreign dignitary!" Devin whispered.

"How do you figure that?" Cassidy asked.

" 'Global implications of her lineage.'" he quoted.

"Ah… right.." she agreed as a sly grin spread across her face.


	2. Chapter 1

Beyond the Blue Horizon

"Chapter" 2

Note: Thanks for the reviews. This would have been up sooner, but I have spent the last two days agonizing and tweeking the dad blasted text. Incidentally, the introductory chapter was the shortest chapter I have ever written! Not that you care-- just an interesting factoid. I have much planned, but tiny amounts of time (semester is drawing to a close and I have mucho homework for the next 5 weeks)… so be patient, please**. **Btw**- "I DON'T OWN THE POWER RANGERS!"**

Oh and, my dear Dr. Runyon… I have plans for thee! Mwhahahaa- we will see who ends up cursed here!

~~~~~~~~

Saturday afternoon dawned with the promise of peace, at least for now. Hayley traveled up to her friends home on the edge of Reefside. It was close enough to town to be convenient, but far enough out to be isolated. Isolation was key, given Tommy Oliver's double life. 

As Hayley approached the home, she noticed that something was amiss. The flesh on the back of her neck crawled. His jeep was parked in the usual spot, but the outer entrance to Tommy's cellar was open… bringing fears of what _other_ doors might be open. Cautiously, she descended the stairs.

"Tommy?" she called out. There was no answer.

The cellar was dark and the large door that lead to Tommy's lab was shut tight. Gaining access, she entered the chamber, only to find that nothing was out of the ordinary, except for the fact that Tommy was not there. 

Worriedly, she climbed the stairs to find her uneasy feeling was justified. As she entered the kitchen, she stepped on a magnet that had once been on the fridge. Papers and pictures once secured to the fridge were scattered thought the kitchen. 

It didn't end there, either. 

Tommy's home was totally ransacked, chairs were scattered all over the kitchen and into the living room. The sleek glass coffee table had been reduced to shards, the metal arch base bent and scattered. The sheer curtains the landlady insisted stay up were ripped out of the wall. Oddly enough, Celeste's toy stash was scattered from it's usual place in the hall closet. The toys littered the hallway toward Tommy's room. It was there she made the discovery…

*******

Kara finished dressing as she looked at the clock. 2pm. Tommy should be there any second for them to go up to the university's new dino-dig. She knew that Tommy would be thrilled to see it. It hadn't been hard to get the head of UC-Reefside's Paleontology department to agree to allow Tommy access. He and Anton Mercer had worked with Dr. Runyon a few times previously and the older professor had great respect for her young colleague. Matter of fact, getting clearance was the easiest task Kara had accomplished at the university as of late. 

In addition to the occasional subbing at both Reefside and Angle Grove High Schools, Kara worked in UC-Reefside's Biology department, where her recent PhD in Zoology came in handy. She also continued to do occasional work for Government research facilities, but nothing like what she had done while working toward her degree. One summer, her first as an government intern, she had been the go-to person for taxonomy and anatomy on a substantial investigation into alien activity and the phenomenon known as the Power Rangers. The investigation didn't yield much information, bu

The slight brunette had just finished tying her hiking boots as a knock at the door jolted her inner musings. Adjusting her army green shorts, she headed for the door.

"So, you actually showed on time!-- What is the point of giving you a key if you're not gonna use it!" she called out as she flung the heavy steel door open.

"You don't love me enough to give me a key and I am always on time!" came the reply from the other side of the door.

"Hayley," Kara exhaled, the color draining from her face, "Come in." 

As she opened the door further, she realized that Hayley was not alone. Behind her stood three of Reefside High's students, ones that Kara knew to work closely with Tommy. 

Taking notice of the fact the students wore the same colors every time she saw them, she stated quietly, "What's wrong? You don't come down here to make social calls, let alone show up with Power Rangers."

Conner stood in disbelief as "toughest sub in two school districts" just acknowledged that he and his two friends were Rangers. He had heard that she was intuitive… some of the students at Reefside swore she could read minds, but this was beyond insane.

"Hey!" Exclaimed Ethan

"How did you know?" Kira asked.

They all stood just inside her door, on small square of tile that marked the entry way. The room was large and open. Bright modern art decorated the white walls complimenting the bright furniture. Conner noticed that on the glass dining table sat a red toy microscope, several small vials and a notepad with scribbles on it.

"Easy, when you're not with Dr. Oliver, you're with Hayley… and the fact that you wear the exact same color scheme every day is kinda a give away, too. Now, out with it, Hayley… where is Tommy?" she asked, a nervous annoyance leaked from her words.

As she closed the door, Kara motioned them to the couch. One by one, they sunk into the deep, cranberry cushions. As he took his seat at the end of the couch, Conner noticed a framed photo containing Dr. O, a very pregnant, long haired Dr. K, another man who looked a little older than Dr. O and a young girl of about 8. The four stood in front of a Big Bend National Park sign. 

Hayley leaned against the arm of an oversized denim chair. It rocked when she attempted to sit on the arm. Regaining her balance and her dignity, Hayley explained:

"I went to Tommy's about noon. He and I have been working on one of …. On an older project. I wanted to check up on it and I knew that he was supposed to go with you… I wanted to catch him. When I got there, the house was ransacked… Tommy was in his room, beaten and unconscious… I called an ambulance. They took him to the hospital…" 

The Rangers and Hayley watched as Kara backed up against her wall, hard enough to disturb a picture collage of a blond haired, blue eyed baby girl. Weakly, she slid down the wall, to the white carpet, and placed her head in her hands. It was a moment before she spoke:

"Hayley, where is Celeste?"

"Tommy said she was at your Dad's."

"No,,No!…," came the panic, "Tommy-- he picked her up early this morning… she called him and said that Chelsea had been mean to her and that she wanted to explore the site with us… She was there, he had her.. I talked to her THERE."

"Kara, I'm sorry… she wasn't there."

"Did you look every where? Are you sure? She HAS to be there, Hayley… She is four years old! She can't just drive off!" she paused, "I can't go through this again!"

"Kara, she wasn't there." a lost look came over Hayley's face. She was unsure how to be of comfort to the helpless, tear-streaked heap on the living room floor.

"Meso- what ever the heck his name is… He took her, then." spat Kara from behind her hands.

Conner sat in a state of shock. Hayley had alerted him earlier that their leader had been beaten and Mesogog was behind it. He hadn't even stopped to change out of his soccer uniform… and now he was sitting on Dr. K's couch wondering just how much she knew about the Rangers, and dying to know why she thought he might have her daughter.

"Would someone mind telling us WHAT is going on?" Conner exclaimed.

Slowly Kara lifted her head to face the three teenagers on her couch. Before she could say anything, Hayley interrupted.

"Kara, we can't be sure that Mesogog took your daughter…"

"But, Hayley, we know he is behind it… Elsa's note.." Kira reminded.

"Note?" came a squeak from Kara, as she grasped at the possibility of answers.

"We didn't understand it." Ethan explained, "It said, 'Friends of the Heir Beware."

"It makes sense now, though, they wanted Celeste." Hayley stated.

"Or their Harry Potter book" joked Conner. His friends rolled their eyes.

"What exactly is Celeste the heir of, Dr. K?" Ethan asked, returning to business.

"Nothing in the sense of inheritance, really. It is more her lineage that would make her enticing to what-ever-his-name-is. The prospects of capturing the offspring of one of the original Power Rangers would definitely appeal to me in the given situation. Add in the fact that her uncle is currently leading the offensive that is hampering your quest for glaxian domination… and wonder why it has taken him this long to go after Celeste."

"You were a Ranger?" Conner asked in disbelief. Surely this woman who placed him in detention nearly every time she subbed, for _whatever_ reason, was not one of his childhood heroes.

"No, her father was." Kara stated matter-of-factly, offering to go no further into the matter.

"And her uncle?" Kira prodded, knowing what answer was to come.

"Tommy, Dr. Oliver. He's my 'half-step' brother." she slightly smiled as she made the comment.

"Your 'half-step' brother?"

"Yeah. Tommy's mom gave him up for adoption when he was a baby, without my dad, who was married to my mom at the time, knowing. He didn't even have a clue that his affair resulted in a son… well, two actually. My dad later found out and tracked Tommy down about the time we graduated from high school. He met Tommy's adopted mom when he met Tommy, fell in love, married her, and bingo! We all get a baby sister. That's all us in the picture you've been ogling, Conner… David, Tommy, Me, and Chelsea. The 'half-step' brother was a joke we came up with the summer I was out here working for a government research agency."

"When you were an intern working on the "Government Survey into the Power Ranger Phenomenon." Ethan asked.

"Uh, yeah… How did you know…"

"Internet- You are the only surviving member of the investigation- the other six members, were part of a doomed NASA mission four years ago, when the project was reopened based on an increase of evil in the galaxy. NASA lost contact the crew not long after they finished their lunar exploration and headed toward deeper space. It was a total loss." 

"I just love the Freedom of Information Act." Kara noted sarcastically.

"Why didn't you go, Dr. K?" Kira asked.

"They don't let 9-month pregnant ladies in space" Hayley answered for her. She smiled at Kara slightly.

"I wanted to go, badly. My husband went in my place… he really was the better choice. If anyone could advise the group on anything Ranger related… he could."

"But there wasn't a Ranger named Johansson on the video…" Kira commenting, thinking back to the video Dr. O had left them in his lab.

"You're right. Johansson is my maiden name. I still use it in the science world because I was already well known by Karris, or Kara, Johansson when I got married. My husband, Bill Cranston was the original Blue Ranger. 

~~~~~

Go on! Hit the little box down there! You know you want to! Review Me!!!!


	3. Chapter 2

****

Chapter 2- **Beyond the Blue Horizon.**

****

Standard Disclaimer- I don't own the Power Rangers. I do believe I have taken off on my own timeline… I missed every thing from when Billy left up until the 3rd episode of DT. I am trying to do research on what happened, but it is a HUGE task. I am just doing my best to keep things in order.

Please R/R. The reviews keep me motivated.

_______________________________________________________________________

Celeste was cold. She didn't like the big glass jar that the scary lady had put her in. Anxiously she looked a the lid, in fear of a giant cotton ball soaked in nail-polish remover. Mommy's step brothers in Dallas liked to kill bugs in jars.

Curious about her surroundings, she wondered if she was in space. Daddy had gone to space and never came back. Mommy still cried for him, though she didn't want Celeste to know. Would Mommy cry for her? Would Uncle Tommy cry for her? She could bet that Chelsea wouldn't. Chelsea was mean… called her a baby and a freak, just cause Celeste knew more than her dumb old aunt.

The scary lady came back into the bright room beyond the glass jar. She still guarded the finger that Celeste had sunk her teeth into. But this time, the scary lady wasn't alone. She came with the man in black armor like the black beetle she was watching in Uncle Tommy's yard earlier this morning. -Celeste had been mad because Uncle Tommy had taken away the magnifying glass- not like she was going to burn ants… not her, no way! She liked ants!

Beetle- man had been there with the scary lady this morning. After the lady had grabbed hold of Celeste, the beetle man had fought Uncle Tommy… she didn't know what happened to him… but she thought for sure he was dead. He would never let some one take her.

They were talking about her! She could see them looking at her and discussing her! Celeste decided that when she got out of the jar, she would bite the other hand of the scary lady and kick the beetle man!

Just then another monster walked in. He had the face of a lizard… an really ugly lizard…No! A dinosaur. He had the face of a ugly dinosaur! The other two bad guys stopped and turned to him.

The dinosaur face walked up to the jar and peered in at her. Celeste closed her eyes. She could hear muffled words through the glass. He was talking about destruction of the Power Rangers and some pro-is-see. She didn't know what a pro-is-see was, but it sounded bad.

Suddenly the lid was lifted from the jar. The cruel hands of Beetle-man snatched her from the bottom before she could slip out of his grasp. He flipped her out of the jar and tucked her under his big, hot arm. The petite child tried to wiggle away, but he held too tight. He brought her close his boss, who inspected her closely.

"Throw her in with the _other _prisoner… the _new_ one," spoke the dinosaur at last, "Don't hurt her… she will be very useful."

Celeste could smell his breath as he spat out those words. His breath smelled like icky coffee and loads of garlic. The combinations made Celeste's tummy feel funny. She had been hungry until that moment, but not anymore.

"Be careful, it BITES." snapped the scary lady as Beetle-man carried her out of the room under his arm.

He carried her down a long hall and then down a long flight of stairs. Celeste tried to count the stairs, but she could only count to 25... She guessed there were about 5 more after that. She had never seen such a flight of stairs! The stairs branched off into a hall. Turning slightly to the left, Beetle-man stopped at a big metal door with a little barred window. Celeste didn't see it until after he lead her into the room, as Beetle-man carried her with his face behind him.

"There! Stay out of trouble" he growled, dumping her on the floor. With the slam of a door, he was gone.

The room was cool and a mist hung over the cool cement floor. There was an inch tall slit at the very top of the room. Water and a faint slice of light dripped into the room. There was dirt streaked on the wall where it had hitchhiked on drops of water past the short fat bars guarding the gash.. The walls were fortified with more cement preventing an ambitious prisoner from digging out.

Celeste made a beeline for the far right corner of the room, under the little vent window. She didn't know what these bad people wanted with her, but it couldn't be good. She wanted Mommy or Uncle Tommy! At this point, she would even be happy to see Chelsea! She curled up in a little ball and cried herself to sleep. 

********

"You married the Original Blue Ranger?" Ethan asked in awe. He had settled on the couch with the other two rangers, instead had made himself at home on the raised hearth of the false fireplace, which coincidently held the TV.

"Bill and I met as a result of the investigation. He had been living on another planet, Aquitar for several years, One night…" as she explained, the scene played over in her head:

~~~~~~

She chided herself as she trudged up to the research site. She had no idea why she had let this enigma wrestle her from her sleep… "Go to the Command Center, Kara… my husband needs you…" the dream had said. Kara had argued, claiming she was only a biologist and everything on site was advanced enough technology to baffle a government specialist. Her dream had argued… "No, he needs YOU. No one else but YOU can help him."

"Great, Kara, you let an alien dream stalker wrestle you from your bed… real smart." she said out loud to herself as she came up on the ruble of what had been great cement cylinders that comprised the research site.

Twenty year old Kara Johansson was the youngest member of the government research team investigating the "mysterious phenomenon" that was the Power Rangers. Her masters of Zoology and an innate knack for anatomy and taxonomy had made her appealing to the government, and so she was recruited and shipped off to the desert near Angle Grove, California. 

Really it wasn't so bad. She had not been in the field that much. She had been mainly chained up in a lab near the site, dissecting an alien being that had crashed near the site. Her specimen had been male, yet, it was a female of the same species that had haunted her dreams for two months, beginning just before the investigation. After coining the phrase and eventual name of the specimen, "_Homo-Aquaterius,_" Kara had turned her attention, two days ago, to the information in the abandoned base's computers, or really, what was left of them. Matt had been eager to show the information in one of the databases from one of the few computers he had figured out.

The former base of the Power Rangers hummed silently as she entered. This was the first time this had happened, as an apparent explosion had once ripped through it. Most of the underground chambers were intact, though severely damaged. Though it was mostly dark, the instrument panel danced with light. It had seemingly come alive.

"Matt?" she called out, hoping the team computer expert was working late. There was no reply.

"Aw, geeze. First you allow a dream to drag your butt up here, But NOW you're the lucky person who gets to discover the security breach." she said out-loud to herself

It was then that she noticed the video screen had been turned on, something Matt had been desperately trying to figure out for weeks. She cursed not-so- under her breath.

"Tsk, tsk" came a male voice from the screen.

Kara whirled around to end up "face to face" with an incredible set of blue-ish gray-ish, _human_, eyes staring back from the video screen.

"Uh, listen… uh… you can hear me?" she stammered.

"I can see you, too. Nice Pajamas." he teased lightly.

Kara turned red and tried to cover her self… her black satin tank set was pretty, but a little more than she wanted a complete stranger to see.

"Um, I don't know how you accessed this screen, but really, you need to forget you ever connected to it. This is a government research site and you could be subject to federal prosecution."

"Really." he said, as if he didn't care. "Have any problems accessing the equipment?"

"I wouldn't even know how to turn on the lights."

"Biologist?"

"How did you know?"

"Lucky guess. What is a Biologist doing in the Power Chamber in the middle of the night?"

"I was going to ask you the same question."

"You first."

"You are soooo going to be prosecuted if you don't get off of this screen." she said, walking up to the control panel that Matt presumed controlled the video screen. She was hoping to find a switch or something… but there were so many buttons, slides and toggle switches she didn't know where to begin.

"Fine… I had a dream that I was supposed to come here and help some one." she huffed as she investigated the panel.

"Move to your left, under the counter there is a switch, flip it." Looking at the man like he was a escaped lunatic, she followed his instructions. Immediately the overhead lights flipped on.

"How did you know that?"

"Elementary."

"Alright, Sherlock Holmes… Answers" It was late, she didn't want to be fooled with. 

"Momentarily. Right now, I want you to move your hands to the right… See the green button with the three toggles underneath it and the knob with the red light?"

"Uh, yeah, kinda hard to miss the big blinking button." she noted sarcastically.

"Trip the toggles, turn the knob, smash the button and stand back" he said quickly, looking over his shoulder.

"Ooo-Kay"

Doing what the strange, yet intoxicatingly handsome man asked, she stood back. A flash of white light filled the room and suddenly he was no longer behind the video screen. He was standing right before her!

"Uh, Thanks! You just saved my life… The Aquitinian death squad was after me."

Suddenly alarmed Kara asked, "What for?"

"Right-wing Purists Aquitinians were using me to demonstrate their new anti-peace trust. Aquitar is in political upheaval and the Purists were apposed to my marriage to one of their own." He explained

"And what about your wife--You didn't just leave her, did you?" 

"No, Cestria was killed two years ago, at the beginning of the Civil War. I'm Billy Cranston." he said extending his hand.

"Kariss Johansson, call me Kara. So, then Mr. Universal Traveler, how did you know about this place?"

"Uh, well.." he floundered, debating on revealing his past, "Uh, I used to work in the Power Chamber…I helped set up these computers. "

"You were a Ranger?"

"Confidentially, yes, for a while I was… but that was before this system was set up…"

"What happened here? This place is a mess…what do the rangers use now? And the Aquitarians… we have a specimine, he crashed…" she began to barrage him with questions.

"Cestro. Yes, I sent him back to aide in the teleportation. I couldn't access it from Aquitar. I suspected something had happened… I just didn't imagine he made it this far. I kinda figured something happened to him as he tried to leave Aquitar. I don't know what happened here, I only knew that scans from the Aquitinian base showed the Power Chamber had enough power to transport me home."

Billy went on to explain a few things for the base, but Kara wasn't listening very closely. She was lost in thought of the dream that brought her here… Cestria, her enigma had a name, and it had been Billy she wanted Kara to save…

~~~

"So, anyway, Bill joined our team, under the cover of a computer wiz friend who had been abroad. We told everyone that my brother introduced us… that, incidentally, is how I discovered the truth about my brothers past. No one ever suspected that Bill had been a ranger. We were married about a year later.

"Four years ago, Dr. Rita Runyon took over the investigation after becoming head of the paleontology dept. at UC-Angle Grove…"

"But she's at UC Reefside…" Ethan interjected.

"Now she is, she wasn't then. Anyway, she was one of the group that mysteriously came back from Terra Venture and said there had been an increase in galaxian evil. Everyone thought The Countdown but an end to it, but something had been amassing deep in space… She put up a huge amount of funding to send a team to the other side of the moon, citing something about a evil base. When she called here, I couldn't go and Bill refused. He didn't want to miss the birth of our baby. He was also working with Tommy on some top-secret project…" with those words she gave a annoyed look to Hayley.

"Kara- they just didn't want you to worry…" Hayley tried to explain.

"Anyway, in the end, we all talked Bill into it. It was the opportunity of a life time and he would be back just in time for my due date. He went, reluctantly. Celeste decided to come a week early, so by some trick of fate, we managed a satellite link up with the hospital, and Bill got to watch the birth. With in days, the left the moon, headed for home and were never heard from again. NASA waited, at my insistence that the mission not be called a total loss until all their supplies would have run out. Then they gave me a little flag all folded in a box and gave him some medals… Angel Grove even named their new science wing after him. They just gave up on him"

"But you don't think that he is dead, do you?" Kira asked.

"No. Until there is a body, Bill is still alive." Kara spoke the phrase with such indignation you believed her, but the tears spilling out of her hazel eyes gave away the fear that she tried to hide at all cost.

"Kara, the top secret project that Tommy and Bill were working on when Bill left… Bill kept all of the information in his computer. I think it has something to do with why Tommy was beat up and Celeste taken." Hayley spoke up.

"What were they working on?" Kara asked, very slowly, deliberately and very forcefully.

"Gathering data on a rumored prophesy that Bill heard while on Aquitar… a prophesy dealing with the eldest heir of the Power Rangers. I don't know a whole lot, it was back just after you introduced me and Tommy… I wasn't in his inner circle. He has mentioned it several times since then."

"And just was this going to be mentioned to me?"

"He really hoped he would never have to tell you."

"Ugh! I am going to kill him when he gets out of that hospital!"

"You do that… right now, I need to know if you still have Bill's computer's around here."

Kara pointed to the wall opposite the couch. There, all along the wall and part of the two adjacent walls, was a long c shaped computer work station. On either of the shorter sides, computer's were set up. Each had an identical work chair, but only one (at the computer on the left) looked used. In the middle of the long branch, there was one common printer/scanner combo. The computer that Kara indicated was Bill's was to the right and much older than her brand new one. Ethan made a bee line for the computer chair.

"All right," he said, "Now we can get somewhere.


	4. Chapter 3

Beyond the Blue Horizon

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own them! I picked them up off the floor and decided to play a little. I promise, they will go back in the toy box once the story is done!

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. I know. I haven't updated in YEARs. Bear with me.. I am giving you all I have in my word processor. I promise to work on more. I am bound and determined to finish my current WIPs this year. I will probably, however, finish uploading the other 18 or so chapters on my Harry Potter work first. I wont wait years to update, though. Be patient, please.

R/R. You know you love the little box at the bottom. Flames for S'mores.

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Tommy laid in his hospital bed, trying hard not to breath too deeply. Zeltrax's assault had caught him completely unaware. He had just taken a magnifying glass away from his niece. Knowing that Celeste had just come back from Dallas and knowing what kind of terrors his sister's step-brothers were, he was not going to trust the impressionable child with a magnifying glass. Out of no where, the portal opened almost on top of him. He didn't have time to react before Zeltrax's first blow came down on his head. Dizzy Tommy had tried to find Celeste. The child, in a vain attempt to protect her favorite uncle, had taken a bite out of Elsa.

"Celeste, run!" Tommy had screamed.

Crying, but without asking a single question, the child ran. He knew where she would hide and he hoped that he could distract Elsa and Zeltrax long enough to get some back up. If they tailed her into the house, they would have her.

Stumbling, he headed into his house, planning to block the hall that lead to the closet, Celeste's favorite hiding place. Zeltrax was on his tail the entire time, throwing the distracted uncle into walls and through furniture as he cleared the way for Elsa.

Broken and bleeding, Tommy fought to remain conscious as he watched Elsa regain a grip on his niece and disappear through a portal. With a sinking feeling, he pulled himself to his room. As he reached for the phone, he collapsed. He knew nothing else until he awoke in the hospital with Hayley standing over him like a guardian angel.

Now he was good for nothing. He couldn't speak, his vocal chords were raw from being intubated…He couldn't even get out of this bed for a couple of days, so he was stuck. Zeltrax had really put him through the ringer this time. The doctors wouldn't even let him have his computer to "work on his projects."

Worst of all he had broken his promise to Billy. He swore to him before he went on the mission that he would protect Kara and 'The Baby' with his life. Billy had been so worried that the prophesy he heard on Aquitar would succeed where the Countdown failed. The prophesy that would be the undoing of the Power Ranger's and eventually the world.

"For it is written that the eldest heir of the first living Ranger's will possess an evil that is unmatched by any that have come before and that heir will be the undoing of all that is good in the universe." Those words haunted Tommy from the minute Billy relayed his fears and told him that Kara was expecting.

Kara… Tommy shifted his worry. He knew that Celeste would be kept alive. Mesogog wasn't dumb enough to destroy his link to ending the Rangers. But Kara would shut down. He remembered when Billy's space mission had been declared a loss. She had yelled at NASA officials, told them nondescriptly to get their asses in space and find her husband. She refused to let them declare him dead.

By the time that the funeral was planned, Kara had divorced herself from the situation. She pretty much divorced herself from everything, even nurturing Celeste. Yes, she nursed the tiny baby and changed her when needed, but she wasn't there emotionally. It was like robots had taken over for her.

It was at Billy's funeral that she showed the first bit of emotion. The church had been laid out flawlessly, every detail accounted for, except the coffin. There would be none. No body, no coffin, Kara insisted. A picture, one of Billy on their wedding day, had been blown up and set in front of the center isle, his warm smile beckoning people up the crimson row.

It had been a Ranger reunion. All of the former rangers, save Trini, had been in attendance. Most of them got up and shared fond memories of Billy. Even Alpha 5 had been teleported in for the event, under the disguise of a mild mannered science project. The event had read like a who's-who list from Angle Grove and Reefside's UC universities, high schools and public officials, as well as, NASA and several other government agencies. On the front row of the church, Kara sobbed silently for the first time. Before the end of the service, Tommy had taken Celeste and Kara's mother held her up.

He remembered staying at the cemetery with her long after everyone else had left. An empty plot of land in Angle Grove, under a tree and next to a small pond, bore the name of his friend and brother-in-law and over the bronze plaque Kara sobbed. She tore at the ground, she swore, she yelled, and she sobbed until she could sob no more.

Knowing all this made him fear for her well being. Celeste was the only thing left of Billy and his sister was a bit over protective. He desperately needed to talk to her and Hayley. In the past few weeks, he had made a couple of new and frightening new developments. There had been an attempted kidnapping on Zach Taylor's daughter, who was only a couple of weeks younger than Celeste. Natalia had been returned without any harm, but the event shook the Black Ranger to the core. He knew what they wanted. They wanted the heir.

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

The other prisoner woke to the sound of his slamming cell door. He half expected Zeltrax to be taking him to his daily dose of brain washing. In the dimness, he waited for the smell of the large armored thing to reach his nose. It never came. Instead a different smell permeated his space. The smell of playdough and… baby shampoo? It couldn't be. Such child like smells would never exist in such a place. Perhaps his olfactory sense was off. Being locked in Mesogog's dark hole for four months had greatly increased his sense of smell, but it could not render it infallible.

Sitting perfectly still, the prisoner waited for other signs that someone new was in his cell. It took a moment, but he heard something in the corner, a soft rustling and a tiny hiccup.

"Hello?" he called out, just above a whisper. His words were met with a sharp intake of breath.

"Um?" came the voice of a small child after a lengthy pause, "Is some body there?"

"Yeah, I am coming to you. Don't be afraid, I wont hurt you." The prisoner called out.

"I'm not supposed to converse with strangers. Mommy said." came the tiny reply.

The prisoner paused at the remark. The child hardly sounded old enough to be in school, and yet she spoke with much more authority and a greater vocabulary than some of the adults on this God-Forsaken, what ever it was. He could hear the terror in the voice but he couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl.

"You're a very smart little person. Mommy was right, but I won't hurt you."

"How do I know you won't eat me? That Beetle-man told me I was going to get eaten 'cause I bit the ugly lady."

"No. I won't eat you. The Beetle-man isn't very smart. He put me in here, too."

The prisoner could see a tiny ball sitting in the corner. It was a little girl. Her long curly hair fell half-way down the length of her back and cascaded around her knees. Her light eyes were big and poised just above her the rip in her overalls. It was too dark to make out any exact coloration.

"Where you playing with a magnifying glass, too? My uncle took it from me and it reflected some light in the sky and then the Beetle-man fell out of the sky onto Uncle Tommy."

The name hit a nerve core with the prisoner as the little child, she couldn't be more than five, put her face in her knees and cried. He racked his brain with a way to comfort the child.

"I was on a ship in space. Some bad aliens took me a long time ago, I bet before you were even born. But then they didn't want me anymore. The gave me to Mesogog," he hoped his story put her a little more at ease. He certainly didn't want to close her off. He wanted to know more.

"Why?" Celeste wanted to know about this voice. It was soft and sweet. He didn't seem like a stranger. And maybe he could tell her where her daddy was. The voice had been in space!

"I worked on a space ship that was getting information about bad guys. They thought I was someone else. When they found out I wasn't, the bad guys thought they could use me to help them. I helped with their computers until they got tired of me. Then they gave me away. What is your name, little one?" Curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Celeste." she chirped.

It got real silent. Celeste had told the man her name, now he was supposed to tell his name. She waited, peering in the darkness. He wasn't far away. She could see his outline in the dark. He was skinny and his hair was long. He had a real strong jaw. Celeste liked men with strong jaws. Uncle Tommy and Uncle David had strong jaws. Pee-Paw had a strong jaw. Grampa Chuck, Mommy's step-daddy, didn't. Celeste didn't like Grampa Chuck that much.

"Mr.?" She called out, "Hey, Mr. What's your name?"

"Blue." He said. He sounded like he was choking.

His dim out-line looked straight ahead. Celeste tried to see what he was looking at, but she only saw black. Discouraged, she scooted her bottom further in the corner. Blue stayed still, he didn't even flinch when she moved.

"Are you OK, Mr. Blue?" He didn't answer.

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Comeone! R/R! Hit the Button! TBC


End file.
